Nikhazy, Hoglund Named Preseason All-Americans

Collegiate Baseball Honors Rebel Starting Pitchers

TUCSON, Ariz. – Doug Nikhazy and Gunnar Hoglund were one of the best one-two starting rotation combinations in college baseball last year, and now the two Ole Miss baseball pitchers are Preseason All-Americans.

Collegiate Baseball released the first Preseason All-American squads for the 2021 on Tuesday, tabbing Nikhazy to the second team and Hoglund to the third team. Nikhazy and Hoglund are two of 11 Southeastern Conference starting pitchers to be named Preseason All-Americans by the publication.

Nikhazy was also named a Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball last year, as well as a third team All-American at season’s end after working to a 3-1 record and 2.35 ERA with 31 strikeouts and nine walks over 23.0 innings pitched. The sophomore out of Windermere, Florida, went at least 5.0 IP in every single start as the team’s Friday night arm.

The 2019 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team member started his season going 5.1 innings with four runs allowed in Rebels’ only loss of the year in the season opener vs. No. 1 Louisville, working against the Cardinals’ ace and first team All-American Reid Detmers. Nikhazy bounced back and was named SEC Pitcher of the Week after going 6.0 no-hit innings with nine strikeouts in combined no-hitter of Xavier. Nikhazy picked up his second win of the year the following week vs. High Point, which sparked a Rebel sweep of the Keith LeClair Classic. He closed his season with another no-hit outing, notching 6.0 scoreless and hitless innings in rout over Princeton.

Hoglund was left off of the All-American teams last season despite a fantastic season on the hill, and one that even eclipsed Nikhazy’s on paper. The sophomore out of Hudson, Florida, finished second in the SEC with 37 strikeouts and third in the conference in wins with three, as well as strikeout-to-walk ratio at 9.25. He was also fifth in strikeouts-per-nine-innings at 14.3 and was sixth in ERA at 1.16.

The 2018 First Round MLB Draft pick started all four Saturday games for the Rebels, walking two batters or fewer each game while striking out seven or more in all four outings. His season-high of 12 strikeouts came against Xavier. He also fanned 10 in his final start of the season against Princeton.

Evelyn Van Pelt

Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.